We Are Young
by DameBlaiddDrwg
Summary: "You might as well. I've forgiven you." She told him sincerely. "What for?" He furrowed his brow, appearing almost angry with her, "You shouldn't. They don't call them Unforgivables for nothing." Rated T for mild language and references to violence.
1. Give Me A Second Chance

**Disclaimer: I am, most unfortunately, not J.K. Rowling, nor am I a member of Fun... so if you recognize something, it's not mine.**

**Song: _We Are Young_, fun.**

**A/N: Listening to this song one day, a scene began to play out in my head - so I wrote it down. At first, I attempted to change the characters around to make it more believable, but nothing seemed to fit. In the end I decided to stick with the characters I first saw, and let them tell the story... and this just sort of happened.**

**It's definitely AU. I don't want to give away to much background - it's important in the story - but I'll let you know that this is set at least six years after the final war and the defeat of Voldemort.  
**

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There was an awkward pause as he stepped up to the booth she was currently occupying. She had yet to look up at him, but she knew who he was as soon as he'd entered the pub an hour and a half ago. After another moment,

"May I?" He gestured to the seat across from her, which was currently empty. She sighed, set down her glass, and gave him a small nod. Only after he had settled into the seat did she raise her eyes to meet his.

"What do you want?" Her hostility was evident, and he knew she had every reason to be. He knew this would be his only chance.

"Please, just… hear me out." He sounded sincere, and while she was surprised at the truth in his voice, she had already decided not to make anything easy for him. She scoffed and took another drink from her glass. He watched her, and a half amused, half worried smirk crossed his face. "Scotch? You know what that does to you." She met his eyes quickly this time with a glare.

"As do you." She retorted, her lips thin. He knew she wasn't going to cause a scene, but he also knew that she had many ways she could get rid of him – in any sense of the term. His 'please', however, was not lost on her, and she knew it was an extremely rare occurrence to hear such a word uttered from his lips. She frowned and gestured for him to continue, focusing on what was left of her drink.

"I want to… I want to talk about what happened. I want to explain – "

"I hardly think there is any need for you to _explain_, Severus." She cut him off, vocalizing his name as if it were a curse word. She glanced around the pub quickly, eyebrow raised in a condescending manner not unlike his own. "What, no backup this time?" She mocked him. The pain in her voice was evident, however, and that struck pain in his own chest more than her words had. He let out a frustrated sigh.

"They're in the back, minding their own. I didn't want them to come here. I _told_ them I didn't want them around. They seem to think that I'm making a grave mistake, coming back here." He paused, waiting for her eyes to catch his again. "Talking to you." He added. She scoffed.

"As if this were an _amiable_ conversation. We are hardly what one would call _friends_, Severus. When have we ever been?" Her words were biting, and under any other circumstance – had she been speaking to anyone else besides him – he would have almost felt proud of her.

"Okay," He conceded angrily, "Obviously we have never been on the best of terms. But I _never _would have… you _know_ I never would have…" His voice trailed off and grew softer. She chewed her lip for a moment, a nagging thought telling her that his words held truth, but…

"Lucius is waiting for me. I need to go." She looked up to the bar and watched as the tall, blonde-haired man ordered a drink from the bartender, cracking some sort of joke and causing those around him to laugh.

He really was a good person now – still a bit of a coward when it concerned his death eater days, but she didn't let that bother her. He was good looking, now that he'd cut his hair and at least had some sort of tone to his skin. He was also an excellent lover, but she wasn't going to tell Severus that. He knew well enough what she and Lucius were up to, and that was enough for her. To throw it in his face would just be…too _Slytherin_ for her tastes.

Then again, she did seem to have a taste for Slytherins…

Severus' gaze followed hers to his old ex-comrade, and he scowled. She took note of the rigid posture of the man across from her, and smirked to herself. Good.

"Hey, Miss, the guy at the bar says this is for you… do you know him?" A waiter that she hadn't seen previously during the night set a butterbeer on the table in front of her. "I mean, it's just that I've noticed him flirting pretty obnoxiously with most of the ladies in here, and…" here he directed his words to Severus, "with _that_ dirty look you're giving him, I kind of assumed he may have been the one to, ah… you know…" The man – no, he wasn't quite a man yet, just a boy – gestured to her exposed neck and shoulder.

Severus stood quickly and snarled at the young man, who stumbled over an apology and hurried back into the kitchen.

She subconsciously brought her fingers to the right side of her jaw, and traced the scars there that led down her neck and across her shoulder. Severus looked pained as he slowly sat back down. It had been months since the... incident, and it was in fact the same incident as to why he was now trying to reconcile with her.

All she wanted to do was forget about the whole thing – but who could, when one had scars as she did? Scars that told the world that she should have died from the injury that had caused them, and scars that no amount of magic could hide or take away. She sighed roughly and pushed the butterbeer toward him.

"You have it. I think I'll stick with my Scotch." She took a rather large gulp from her glass, almost as if to prove her point. It burned harshly as it went down her throat… burned like the memory of her wounds that she was forcing herself to never forget, no matter how much she wanted to.

There wasn't much talk between them as he went through his glass, and then ordered another one. From an outsider, it may look as if they were two coworkers having a drink after a long day, sharing a time when they didn't have to talk or explain anything to one another. However, explaining was exactly the thing that these two should have been doing.

"I'm not sure how I could apologize for something like this. You know that if I could find a way – _any_ way – to fix what has happened, I _would_ do it." As both of their glass counts were mounting, his emotions were becoming less guarded and she was becoming more resigned. She rested her head against her left palm, elbow on the table. He was simply sitting in front of her, hands relaxed to his sides. Only she could see that he was relaxed; his posture no longer rigid and his brow no longer furrowed. Well, at least not as much as it usually is.

"You act as if you had no part in this! As if _you_ weren't the one – " She halted, getting too close to speaking point-blank about the topic at hand, and changed course, "As if you couldn't _help_ what had happened to me!" She was not yelling loudly enough for the other patrons to hear them, but just enough that he could _feel_ how angry she was.

No, if she admitted it to herself, angry wasn't the right word. As much as she tried, she could not be angry with him. She was disappointed, and hurt. Yes, she was severely hurt – and not only physically. He'd cut her right down to her soul; a thing that only _he _could do. It wasn't even so much that she was bothered by the physical evidence left behind – lord knows she'd had enough issues surrounded her appearance earlier in life; she could care less about it now.

He did not reply; just stared at her with a sad look on his face, and she said, "The fact that it was _you. You _were the one that let them in, and you _knew_ how much they hated me…"

"I thought that by now they would have gotten over their stupid ideals! You-Know-Who had been the _real_ powerhouse behind us, and of course you _know_ that! I thought that they would have renounced themselves, like they had the last time…" He trailed off, aware of how childish and stupid his words sounded, and he took a long drink of his beer in disgust with himself.

Since when did Severus Snape ever sit there, whining like a child, about ideas that even the youngest of Hogwarts students knew to be downright stupid? He waved the waitress – the previous waiter had not been seen since his comment about the scars, and neither of them certainly minded – over for another glass.

"Scotch," He said, his eyes on the woman across from him. She was staring into her now empty glass.

"Sir…" The waitress began timidly, "I think you should probably lay off the alcohol for a little while…at least for a few – "

"_Scotch._" He hissed at her, slowly turning his gaze to meet hers. She took a step away from the table before quickly nodding and walking away. He knew he was using his 'snarky git' status to get away with this, but he didn't care at the moment.

"Tis not fair," Hermione mumbled, once more resting her chin in her hand. She played with the water droplets on the table, refusing to meet Severus' eyes again. "I already get cut off, and you can just _scare _them into submission." His jaw clenched, but he didn't reply. He looked off toward the bar, watching the other patrons for a few moments.

"Why couldn't you have used that power _then_?" She asked him calmly. His gaze snapped back to hers, which now met his with an honest curiosity.

"You know… you know I'm trying hard to get your trust back." He told her quietly, guilt and sorrow the only thing she could see in his eyes. She knew that he would normally never show such emotion in public, or ever let her see him drunk enough to relax in this manner. She looked back at Lucius and said very quietly,

"I know." She continued to watch as her lover chatted with the bartender. As if he felt her eyes on him, he turned his head to look at her, a question in his eyes. She subtly shook her head and offered him a small smile, and he smiled warmly at her in return before resuming his conversation.

He'd known Severus' intention as soon as the man had entered the pub, and allowed them time and space to talk – whether either of them initially wanted it or not.

"I'm glad…" She jerked her gaze back to the man across from her, perplexed. "I'm glad that you… that it's him. I may not _like it_, but… at least it's him." Severus told her, gritting his teeth. She knew that there was some truth in his statement. She also knew that he was the jealous type. Extremely so.

"Severus, I must admit," She sighed, leaning back into the booth, "that the majority of my time spent with Lucius is to simply punish _you_." She told him straight faced. He looked as if he'd been slapped, and he leaned back into his seat as well.

No physical pain could ever truly hurt Severus, not with his years of experience being one of Voldemort's closest. She knew that the one thing that would hurt him the most was herself; her rejection of him. He'd once told her that, and she had not taken it lightly. He could see that now. Unfortunately, the pain that she could see so clearly in his face cut into her own heart almost as badly as 'The Incident' had.

He nodded, almost to himself, and reached forward to the glass of Scotch recently placed in front of him. He downed almost the entire thing in one gulp, reveling the burn it caused in his throat as he swallowed. Merlin knew he deserved every bit of it.

**X**

By the time the bar closed, she knew she was in no state to get to her apartment on her own, by way of floo or apparating. Severus was hardly any better than she, but nevertheless she allowed him to grasp her elbow to steady her as they stepped into the night. Lucius held the door open for them silently. He hadn't yet said a word to the other man all night.

"Here," he pulled a small vial from his pocket and pressed it into Severus' free hand. "Take this. Merlin knows you've had enough to down a full-blooded giant, but this should help you enough to get the two of you home safely." He waited until Severus downed the entire contents of the sobriety potion before stepping away from the two of them. Severus sent him a questioning gaze, and Lucius laughed without much humor. "I knew what my job was to her. You're one of my closest friends, Severus, but this… well, I was willing to do this for her."

"And no Malfoy would turn down a free shag then, would he?" Severus retorted dryly, but with a small smirk on his lips. Lucius flashed a grin.

"She's a beautiful woman, Severus Snape. I think you'll find her quite hard to say 'no' to." He rested his hand on his friend's shoulder a moment before apparating away with a small 'poof' of wind around them.

"I never liked it when you two would talk about me as if I weren't right in front of you." She whined, leaning heavily into Severus. He sighed and lifted her arm around his neck, picking her up to cradle her close as he carried her home.

"I've told you before, and I'm telling you again; you are the death of me, Hermione Granger." He murmured into her hair, sniffing deeply before apparating away. When morning came, she would hate him all over again, but he would deal with that when the time came. His spirit was renewed by the familiarity of the wonderful scent that was all her own, and he knew – he _promised_ – that he would do absolutely _everything_ in his power to win her back.

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**A/N: Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	2. I'll Carry You Home

**Disclaimer: I am, most unfortunately, not J.K. Rowling, nor am I a member of Fun... so if you recognize something, it's not mine.**

**Song: **_**We Are Young**_**, fun.**

**A/N: Listening to this song one day, a scene began to play out in my head - so I wrote it down. At first, I attempted to change the characters around to make it more believable, but nothing seemed to fit. In the end I decided to stick with the characters I first saw, and let them tell the story... and this just sort of happened.**

**It's definitely AU. I don't want to give away to much background - it's important in the story - but I'll let you know that this is set at least six years after the final war and the defeat of Voldemort.**

* * *

She hadn't been back to the bar since that night. Since that morning, when she woke up on Severus' couch, leaning against him with his arms around her. It was innocent enough, had they been friends, but because of their muddled past…she made sure not to wake him as she grabbed her coat and slipped out the door.

That had been two weeks ago. Somehow she'd let Lucius persuade her to join him this evening. She knew he was meeting up with Severus; they were still friends, and she held nothing against him for that. She figured it might be a little easier to speak with Severus if it wasn't just the two of them this time.

This was why she was now sitting in a booth next to Lucius, across from Severus. They'd been speaking amicably for the past half hour, albeit the conversation was a bit tense. When the most recent topic trailed off to a comfortable lull, Lucius stood.

"I'm going to check on the chips. I'll give those Muggles one thing – they know their way around a potato." He grinned at Severus for a moment and pressed a kiss to Hermione's cheek before sauntering off toward the bartender. She didn't miss the way Severus' lips tightened into a disapproving line before he lifted his mug and took a long drink. She watched him, appearing more relaxed than she felt. She didn't want to get into an argument with him again, and considering the last time they were alone together…

"He's quite fond of you." His statement was meant to be neutral, but hints of disdain slipped out around the edges. Hermione nodded, keeping her eyes on the man across from her. He would not look at her – he'd managed not to make eye contact the entire evening.

"And I him." She answered truthfully, taking a sip of her own butterbeer. He set his glass down rather forcefully.

"Look, I know that I have no right – "

"You don't." She interrupted him.

"You're a beautiful, young woman, and it should be no surprise that men are lining up – "

"Really?" She asked sarcastically, glancing around as if expecting a literal line to be forming. He half sighed, half growled, and his upper lip curled in annoyance. "There you are. Severus Snape. I was wondering where he ran off to." She let out a short, dry laugh, and took a long drink from her glass. Looking back at him, she was slightly surprised he was looking pointedly into her eyes.

"_Will you let me speak._" He hissed in his 'professor voice'. She raised her eyebrow and shrugged, once more returning her attention to her drink. She knew what he wanted – Merlin, if she were honest she wanted it too – but she wasn't going to make this easy for him.

"I've already told you everything I can. I've apologized in every way I know how – even knowing that mere words can't change what I've physically done to hurt you, I've said them anyway. If you know any other thing I can do to fix this, _tell _me. I'll _do _it. And I mean that." He paused, gauging her for a moment. "If you want me to die, then… there are many ways for that to happen. But I – " He hesitated, stopping and looking down at his drink.

She raised her eyebrow again, this time curiously. She certainly did not want him to die – no, she wouldn't be able to live if he were dead. After everything, she still loved him.

"But?" She asked softly, so softly he wasn't sure she'd spoken. He guessed she didn't want to frighten him off.

"I know that I'm not all you have. But you're all that _I_ have." He was looking at her in earnest, and she knew that if she tried Legilimency his mind would be open for her to peruse. She carefully schooled her features to be neutral but not negative.

This was Severus Snape who was speaking to her. Snape, the man who ridiculed everyone he set eyes on, his entire life_. _The man who hated her best friend, who worked as the right-hand man for the most evil being on Earth for many years, who killed one of the most beloved wizards of their time, who tortured wizards and Muggles alike just to save face…

And yet he was also the man who was bullied and ridiculed, who never got anything that he wanted – not even love, who put his life in the hands of a wizard who wasn't actually all sunshine and lemon drops, who tore apart his soul for the woman he adored… he spent years working with Voldemort, as an inside man for Dumbledore. He pretended to loath Harry in lieu of protecting him, in hopes of some sort of condolence for not saving the woman he loved. A woman who hadn't even loved him in return.

He was also the man who allowed a throng of known Death Eaters into his home, Death Eaters who hated Muggle-borns such as Hermione. Death Eaters who assumed that the only reason a revered Dark one such as Snape would have a Muggle-born in his house was for personal pleasure…and it wasn't the sort of personal pleasure any normal people would indulge in. Like Bellatrix, these Death Eaters were the true insane types – they thrived on the pain and torture of those below them. They reveled in it. And because Snape knew that they would have hurt her far worse than he, he was the one to cast the curse. She remembered the look on his face as he pointed his wand at her just as clearly as the man sitting before her today.

She sighed and closed her eyes, ending the memory. She knew that he'd seen it as well.

"I will never forgive myself for that. _Never_." Opening her eyes at his words, she saw that he now held that same expression he had those many months before. His left hand was resting on the table, and she reached out her right to place upon it. He flinched, but did not pull away.

"You might as well. I've forgiven you." She told him sincerely. As she spoke, she found it was true. It still hurt her to think about, but she _had_ forgiven him. He looked shocked.

"What for?" He furrowed his brow, appearing almost angry with her. "You shouldn't. They don't call them Unforgivables for nothing." He said sarcastically, pulling his hand away from hers and taking a long drink of butterbeer. She frowned as well, folding her hands in her lap.

"Here you are, asking me to forgive you, and then when I say I have you tell me that I shouldn't. Make up your mind, Snape, because Lucius will be coming back soon and this conversation will be done with." She said shortly. He visibly flinched when she called him 'Snape'. He hated it when she used his name as if it were a curse, and she knew he hated it.

"It's just…not easy." He told her, not looking up. She watched him for a moment, sighed, and softened her features.

"It's not supposed to be easy," she said gently, "That's what makes it such a powerful thing. I _do_ forgive you." He didn't look up.

"Severus." Surprised at her tone, he lifted his eyes to meet hers. "_I forgive you._" She told him sincerely. To anyone watching, it would have appeared as if he simply ignored her statement, or even thought of it with disdain. She, however, knew him better than anyone else – and she saw the emotion in his eyes, and in his thoughts as he allowed her to look into them. She was surprised by the strength of his emotion.

"Who would've thought…" He looked at her curiously as she spoke quietly, "Who would've thought that the man who seemed to have the greatest lack of emotion, was in fact the man who could love the most." The corner of his mouth quirked up in what could be called the start of a smile. She knew that it would take a while for her to see the true grin light up his features once more, but she would wait for it.  
Just as she had waited for it the first time.

"I – would you…?" He suddenly asked, and then stopped himself, looking displeased. She took a drink of butterbeer, waiting for him to continue. "Would you like another one?" He gestured to her now empty glass. Setting it down, she nodded.

"Yes. Thank you." She told him as he gathered their empty glasses and stood.

"No…thank you," He told her softly before walking away toward the counter. She was watching him, too distracted to notice Lucius slide into the previously occupied seat across from her.

"So, did you two make up?" He asked in all seriousness, setting a steaming plate of chips on the center of the table. She jumped slightly, turning to face him.

"Hardly," She scoffed, picking a chip off of the edge of the plate, blowing it cool before taking a bite. "However… we're heading in that direction." She amended, knowing that by the time the night was over she would want to be in his company once more. Lucius watched her, a mischievous look in his eyes. She sighed. "What is it, Lucius?"

"I know that he's more important to you than I am," He began, and she looked at him indignantly.

"Don't say that. You are very important to me." She insisted. He raised his eyebrow and ate a chip.

"But you don't love me." He stated. When she opened her mouth to reply, he held up his hand. "No, it's just a fact. I know it, and you know it. I never expected for you to love me, Hermione. Yes, you are beautiful, and yes, you are a damn good shag," She kicked his leg under the table, but laughed. "And yes, I value your feelings immensely," He said sincerely, "However, I am not the one who holds your heart." He looked pointedly toward the counter where Severus was, and she sighed.

"It's horrid though, isn't it? We argue all the time, hurt one another with our words – and sometimes physically too – and yet…" She looked toward Severus, "And yet…" She trailed off, returning her gaze to Lucius. "We just tear one another apart." She took another chip and munched on it, not really focusing on the taste.

"Maybe you could find new ways to fall apart." She heard the innuendo in his tone and choked on a bit of chip, kicking him again.

"Lucius Malfoy!" She cried, making to kick at him again. He laughed and used his own legs to trap hers.

"Oh, come off it. I know you two were…previously engaged in certain relations –" She threw what was left of her chip at him when he wiggled his eyebrows.

"We weren't!" She insisted, wriggling, trying to get one of her legs free to kick him again. He easily held her off.

"Come _on_, why else would you have been in his house at that time of night? 'Personal pleasures', I bet – "

"We _weren't_! You know very well that he and I have been working together for years!" She pursed her lips in annoyance, giving up her attempts of kicking him. "We had been working on brewing a potion that he had created. We'd taken a break when there was a lull and…well, that was when all that happened." She waved her hand in the air indicating to her scars. Lucius relaxed his hold on her, looking at her sideways.

"I believe you," He said after a moment, "So that means the two of you should all the more –"

"_No_, Lucius. He wouldn't… we can't." She trailed off.

*******  
Her relationship with Severus had always been tumultuous, until the last three years or so. He had told her about his past, and she realized that he was much more than just Severus Snape, Death Eater. It had been quite a surprise when she'd claimed he was a close confidante, and even more of a surprise when he agreed and returned the sentiment.

And then six months ago, during a late night of brewing Wolfsbane, Severus had a few unannounced visitors. How they got into Hogwarts was anyone's guess, but after that night the wards surrounding the castle had been checked and doubled.  
*******

"Maybe you should prove to him that you really do forgive him…then he might forgive himself." Lucius told her softly. She had been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't even felt him use Legilimency. She frowned at him but didn't vocalize her disapproval.

"Are you two done flirting, or should I grab my own table?" Severus asked with disdain. She hadn't noticed his approach, but now looked up at him as he held two frothing mugs of butterbeer. She realized that her legs were still wrapped up in Lucius', and Severus probably noticed it from the bar. She quickly pulled her legs back as he set the mugs down on the table. She grabbed his arm and pulled slightly, so he sat down next to her on the booth. He appeared surprised, but pleased, and Lucius looked mischievous again. Lucius winked at Hermione when she caught his eye, and Severus quietly growled under his breath.

"Sorry, my friend. I was merely attempting to defend myself from her vicious kicking." Lucius told Severus, who smirked into his mug as he took a sip.

"Oh, I'm sure you deserved it then." He commented, with an amused raised eyebrow. Lucius scoffed playfully and made to retaliate when he noticed the group that had just entered the pub.

"Excuse me for a moment, I'm gonna go get those guys. Mind if they join?" He asked as he stood up. Hermione shrugged and nodded, and Severus merely took another drink of butterbeer. Hermione reached for hers and set her other hand on top of his, which had been resting on his leg nearest her. He flinched slightly but did not pull away. She took a long drink as he dared to intertwine his fingers with her own. She squeezed his hand, and when he opened his mouth to speak, she blurted,

"Would you like to come home with me tonight?" Did she just say that? Lucius was more persuasive than either of them thought. Severus looked just as surprised, if not more so.

"What?" He asked after a moment, wondering if he heard her correctly.

"No – that's not a question." She corrected herself, realizing that she very much wanted the safety of his arms again tonight. "Come home with me tonight." She told him softly, taking another drink as Lucius and the other two men were now nearing their table. Severus opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking straight ahead.

"Wow, look at this! It seems my boy here has been rendered speechless! That's certainly a feat – what did you say, Hermione?" Lucius teased as the other two sat down across from them. He pushed Severus closer to Hermione and sat on the other side of him. "Or maybe I should ask, what did you _do_?" He leaned across Severus to stage-whisper to her, and wiggled his eyebrows. Hermione blushed and made to pull her hand away from Severus, but he just tightened his hold.

"Mind your own, Lucius. And stop misconstruing things." She told him haughtily as she took a drink of butterbeer. She felt rather than saw Severus elbow Lucius back to his own space on the seat.

Harry and Ron, the two new additions to their group, looked uncomfortable and mildly disgusted. Hermione squeezed Severus' hand, offering encouragement. While the boys certainly respected him and didn't mind his company now that his true colors were out, he was still the snarky git of the dungeons at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Hermione, I know you've got your own right to who you, ah, hang out with – but could you, ah, kind of, you know, just…hold off while we're around? It's just kind of unsettling, you know. I'll get used to it eventually, just…" Harry scratched the back of his head uncomfortably as Hermione let him ramble. Severus raised his eyebrow at the younger man but kept his mouth shut.

"_Harry_, I didn't _do_ anything!" She insisted, shooting a look at Lucius, who was laughing.

"So, how've you been 'Mione?" Ron asked, attempting to change the subject. Hermione looked at him gratefully and answered his question.

Severus sat quietly and watched as the other four interacted, throwing in a 'hmm' or a smirk every now and then when needed. He looked at Hermione with a new appreciation. They didn't know that he was the one that had hurt her. He thought for sure he'd have to be on his guard against them from then on, but it seemed as if they were genuinely attempting to get along with him. She hadn't told them the truth.

"Careful, Snape, you look a little _too _interested if you catch my drift," Lucius whispered in his ear, and he jerked his gaze from the woman next to him. "Wouldn't want the Potter boy to find out you've been shagging – "

"Let's raise a glass!" Severus said suddenly, interrupting Lucius and the other three, who had been in a deep conversation concerning the recent happenings in the Ministry. Harry and Ron immediately joined in, as did Hermione, though she had a questioning look about her. Lucius tapped his glass with theirs as well, his eyebrow raised in amusement.

"What for?" Ron asked as he took a drink along with the others.

"The five of us are all sitting here amicably, having pleasant conversation and not trying to kill one another. That's good enough reason, don't you think?" He sounded only slightly sarcastic, and Harry smiled and lifted his glass in salute.

"I'll drink to that," And he did. Ron downed the rest of his butterbeer as well (they had already gone through most of their glasses each by this point), and he pulled at Harry's arm to join him in acquiring another mug for each of them. Severus used this moment of absence to lean closely toward Hermione.

"I've also found someone willing to take me home tonight," He whispered silkily into her ear, his lips brushing her skin. She blushed as he pulled away, and raised her glass as well.

"I'll drink to that," She told him in the same tone of voice Harry had used, and he revealed a quick smile as she took a drink.

**X**

An hour later Hermione announced that she should probably be headed home, and Severus immediately offered his assistance. Lucius stood to let them out of the booth, and Harry and Ron complained a bit about her "leaving so soon", but they said their goodbyes with a grin. Lucius followed Severus and Hermione to the door.

"I'll stay with these chaps; make sure they get home safely. You have a sobering potion, right Severus?" Lucius asked his friend, who nodded.

"Yes I do," He began to answer, and Hermione wrapped her arm around his and pulled him halfway out the door.

"But he won't need it. We'll walk. I don't live too far from here." She said, smiling to Lucius.

"I know," Lucius grinned playfully and kissed her forehead. "It's been fun, lass, but I hope I never have to be the scapegoat for Severus ever again." She raised her eyebrow at him, and he laughed. "Mostly because he's one of the few people I'm truly afraid of." He clapped his friend on the shoulder and bid his goodbyes, slipping back inside. Severus sighed as they began to walk down the sidewalk.

"I still hate that you did that." He told her, looking ahead. She looked up at the sky, a comfortable smile on her face. The butterbeer probably had helped with that.

"Yes, well…that part of my life is over with, and never to be seen again." She promised him, and he looked down at her.

"Never?" He said quietly, and she stopped walking and faced him. She looked at him for a few moments, and nodded.

"Never." She affirmed, and took a step closer to him. She stood on her toes to brush her lips against his, and wrapped her arm more tightly around his before continuing the path home. After that, he had to force himself to watch where he was going. He'd always thought she was beautiful, but in the moonlight… he didn't have words for it. The rest of the walk was one in comfortable silence, but when they reached her doorway he hesitated.

"Are you sure?" He asked her, frowning. She slipped her arm from his as she unlocked the door, then turned to face him.

"Severus," She said seriously, "I have never been more sure. I never did stop loving you. Not even – not even _then_. You did it to save me. I understand that. And I still love you." He stood there looking into her eyes, hoping that she was telling the truth.

Their love for one another had been something they avoided talking about, even in their closest moments. He had been aware that she cared very deeply for him, and she was aware that he cared for her just as well; it was something that had just never been vocalized.

"I can't promise I'm not going to hurt you again," he told her, "I _can_ promise that it will _never_ be physically, never again, but…I'm still me. The 'snarky git'." She took his hand in hers.

"The snarky git that I love." She affirmed. "You have no reason to run." He didn't reply; he was unsure how to. "Don't worry, we're not… I just want you here, with me. I need to know that you're here." She told him. He gazed at her silently, with the emotion that he was feeling inside but was uncomfortable with expressing. She smiled softly and opened the door, not letting go of his hand as she pulled him in behind her. She'd learned to read even his most subtle facial expressions long ago.

No, he wasn't perfect by any means, but he was still the one who held her heart. And she held his.

"I'll always be here," He promised her very quietly as he closed the door behind them.

END

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**A/N:**** Reviews - help write better, me, they do. :)**

**Also, the story is supposed to be a little vague on things, but if you would still like anything cleared up, I will certainly respond to any questions/confusion.  
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